Latest news with #AmberRuffin
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Late Night's Amber Ruffin Laughs at Bezos Wedding Protests: ‘People Protested Your Wedding and You're Not Even Gay!'
Billionaire and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos married Lauren Sanchez late last month, and the nuptials were greeted by protests from locals in Venice. That tickled 'Late Night' writer Amber Ruffin on Tuesday, as she marveled that, usually, only gay weddings see protests. The thing about 'Late Night' is, as host Seth Meyers explained to tee up the latest 'Amber Says What' segment, the NBC show can't always touch on every bit of news that's going on. So, to play a little catch-up on things, they have Ruffin come out to recap. And thus, she got to touch on the controversial wedding. More from TheWrap First 'Stranger Things 5' Teaser Trailer Promises All-Out War in Hawkins 'Late Night's Amber Ruffin Laughs at Bezos Wedding Protests: 'People Protested Your Wedding and You're Not Even Gay!' | Video Suspect in Murder of 'American Idol' Supervisor Robin Kaye and Her Husband Arrested LA County Board of Supervisors Unanimously Approve Measures to Streamline Filming Permits 'I was like, what?! Two rich people got married? I bet those were some beautiful protests,' Ruffin joked. 'And they were! I'm sorry, but can you imagine people disliking you so much they protest your wedding?!' 'People protested your wedding and you're not even gay,' she continued. 'That's how you know you're bad.' There were indeed a variety of protests in Venice leading up to and during the wedding, which spanned three days in total, including a march where people chanted ''Bezos, f–k off, out of our lagoon!' Activists also rolled out a massive banner in St. Mark's Square, with a photo of Bezos and a caption that read 'If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax.' Additionally, there were even dummies created to look like Bezos, with one shoved into the Venice Canal attached to an Amazon box and clutching cash in its hands. You can watch the full 'Amber Says What' segment from 'Late Night with Seth Meyers' in the video above. The post 'Late Night's Amber Ruffin Laughs at Bezos Wedding Protests: 'People Protested Your Wedding and You're Not Even Gay!' | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
USA Today
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Amber Ruffin on her first Pride since coming out as queer: 'I'm all in'
Amber Ruffin on her first Pride since coming out as queer: 'I'm all in' Show Caption Hide Caption Pride flag raised in DC in honor of Pride month Officials, organizers and supporters gathered in front of the John A. Wilson building in Washington D.C. as the Pride flag was raised. Amber Ruffin didn't quite realize she had to come out as a queer woman, initially. "I didn't think people really needed to come out anymore," the comedian and writer, 46, says. But there was a point where she felt like she wanted to openly declare herself and join the queer community. "I certainly didn't want anyone I dated to feel like I was hiding them. And that was the main point. But also I realized I was having privileges that straight people have and I did not want that." Ruffin, best known for her work on NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" and her eponymous Peacock talk show, posted on Instagram at the end of Pride Month in 2024: "I'm using the last day of PRIDE to come out! Be proud of who you are, little babies! I know I am!" Nearly a year later Ruffin is just as joyful and happy as she was in the photo in the post, smiling widely and wearing a shirt emblazoned with "QUEER" across the front. "Coming out was so easy," Ruffin told USA TODAY in a recent phone interview. "Coming out was so nothing. I don't know anyone who cares. I really don't. So I'm just a lucky little bug." Ruffin spoke to USA TODAY about her Pride plans now that she's out, living through President Donald Trump's second term as a comedian and queer person and losing her gig hosting the White House Correspondents Dinner. "I've got a lot of Prides to make up for, so this one I'm all in." Question: What led to your choice to come out on the last day of Pride in 2024? Answer: Last year I came out because I had gotten a divorce the year before and was kind of like, 'I'll never date another man.' I feel like gay or straight, every woman has thought that. But then I realized what that meant. And do you know how like sometimes people are passing for white and then white people say wild (stuff) around them? I was like, I can't let that happen to me around being queer. I don't want it. So what are your plans for this year's Pride? Every time anything has a rainbow on it, I want to be under that mug. ... This whole month of June I am not going to sleep. I can't stress enough how excited I am about this part, and I'm not going to be cool about it either. I'm talking rainbow suspenders and glitter on my face. I'm in. I'm all the way in. Many people in the LGBTQ+ community are distressed and worried these days based on the policy changes and goals of the Trump administration. How are you feeling and how do you talk to people in the community about the deluge of news? I try not to talk to anyone about it, because I realize I'm a little bit like Chicken Little when it comes to it all. I will start reasonable and then in a couple of sentences I'll be like "that's why we all have to move!" I try to just listen and interject positivity where I (can), knowing that everything might get even worse than this. You were asked to host the White House Correspondents Dinner this year, which is traditionally hosted by a politically-minded comedian such as your colleague Seth Meyers (hosted in 2011). But in March the organization said they would no longer feature a comedic performance at all after criticism of you by a member of the Trump administration. How did you feel when that all went down? When I lost the Correspondents Dinner, I felt like, "well, that's fine." Because I had done so many anti-Trump things that I was like, "well, this is probably for the best." If (the White House Correspondents Association) didn't want me to be running around talking trash about Trump, then there wasn't anything I could have done for (them). More details: White House Correspondents' Dinner cancels plans to feature comedian Amber Ruffin People in the queer community often discuss how Pride is both a celebration and has its roots in protest. Is that something you're balancing this year? Yes. And I think the trans community is extremely good at celebrating and protesting simultaneously because their existence is a protest. So it's so natural, because they literally walk in protest all day, everyday. It's part of how they exist. So it is a beautiful time to use Pride Month to get grounded and to help (transgender people). ... I've never really had privilege before, so I'm like, we use this. Let me use this milligram I have of privilege. I'm glad to do it.
Washington Post
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Literary world gathers for PEN America dinner-gala hosted by Amber Ruffin
NEW YORK — Hundreds of writers, editors and publishers are to gather Thursday night for PEN America's annual gala, hosted by Amber Ruffin and featuring a tribute to actor-publisher Sarah Jessica Parker. Ruffin, the writer-comedian, will have a high-profile platform after she was disinvited from April's White House Correspondents Association dinner. Ruffin is known for her blunt criticism of President Donald Trump, and the WHCA said it wanted the event to focus on journalism.
The Independent
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Literary world gathers for PEN America dinner-gala hosted by Amber Ruffin
Hundreds of writers, editors and publishers are to gather Thursday night for PEN America's annual gala, hosted by Amber Ruffin and featuring a tribute to actor-publisher Sarah Jessica Parker. Ruffin, the writer-comedian, will have a high-profile platform after she was disinvited from April's White House Correspondents Association dinner. Ruffin is known for her blunt criticism of President Donald Trump, and the WHCA said it wanted the event to focus on journalism. Soon after the association's decision, PEN announced that Ruffin had agreed to preside over its signature event, a dinner-fundraiser held at the American Museum of Natural History. 'She is truly emblematic of the talented creators who we need on stages and in writers' rooms during a time of unprecedented censorship in this country,' PEN co-interim CEO Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf said at the time. PEN itself, the century-old free expression organization, is still recovering from a tumultuous 2024. Allegations that leadership was reluctant to criticize Israel's invasion of Gaza and slow to respond to the suffering of Palestinians, including Palestinian writers and journalists, led so many writers to withdraw from PEN's spring awards ceremony and World Voices festival that both were canceled. PEN CEO Suzanne Nossel departed at the end of the year; a permanent replacement has not yet been announced. The awards night and World Voices returned this month, although with reminders of the ongoing war in Gaza. Several prize nominees withdrew from competition, including two of the five finalists for the $75,000 Jean Stein Book Award for a work of 'originality, merit, and impact.' The daughters of Stein, the late author, editor and philanthropist, decided that the prize money would be donated to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund and to Palestine Legal, a U.S.-based defense organization. On Thursday, PEN will honor the imprisoned Egyptian poet and activist Galal El-Behairy with the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, given to dissidents who have been jailed. Members of his family will accept the award for him. Parker is to receive the PEN/Audible Literary Service Award, presented in previous years to Patti Smith,Robert Caro and Stephen Sondheim among others. Parker has been a longtime champion of books and literacy and runs the publishing imprint SJP Lit, where authors include Lucy Caldwell, Linda Grant and Elysha Chang. Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth, a leading critic of Trump's threats to cancel research funding at Columbia University and other schools, is this year's winner of the PEN/Benenson Courage Award. PEN is giving its Business Visionary award to Macmillan CEO Jon Yaged.
Associated Press
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Literary world gathers for PEN America dinner-gala hosted by Amber Ruffin
NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of writers, editors and publishers are to gather Thursday night for PEN America's annual gala, hosted by Amber Ruffin and featuring a tribute to actor-publisher Sarah Jessica Parker. Ruffin, the writer-comedian, will have a high-profile platform after she was disinvited from April's White House Correspondents Association dinner. Ruffin is known for her blunt criticism of President Donald Trump, and the WHCA said it wanted the event to focus on journalism. Soon after the association's decision, PEN announced that Ruffin had agreed to preside over its signature event, a dinner-fundraiser held at the American Museum of Natural History. 'She is truly emblematic of the talented creators who we need on stages and in writers' rooms during a time of unprecedented censorship in this country,' PEN co-interim CEO Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf said at the time. PEN itself, the century-old free expression organization, is still recovering from a tumultuous 2024. Allegations that leadership was reluctant to criticize Israel's invasion of Gaza and slow to respond to the suffering of Palestinians, including Palestinian writers and journalists, led so many writers to withdraw from PEN's spring awards ceremony and World Voices festival that both were canceled. PEN CEO Suzanne Nossel departed at the end of the year; a permanent replacement has not yet been announced. The awards night and World Voices returned this month, although with reminders of the ongoing war in Gaza. Several prize nominees withdrew from competition, including two of the five finalists for the $75,000 Jean Stein Book Award for a work of 'originality, merit, and impact.' The daughters of Stein, the late author, editor and philanthropist, decided that the prize money would be donated to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund and to Palestine Legal, a U.S.-based defense organization. On Thursday, PEN will honor the imprisoned Egyptian poet and activist Galal El-Behairy with the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, given to dissidents who have been jailed. Members of his family will accept the award for him. Parker is to receive the PEN/Audible Literary Service Award, presented in previous years to Patti Smith,Robert Caro and Stephen Sondheim among others. Parker has been a longtime champion of books and literacy and runs the publishing imprint SJP Lit, where authors include Lucy Caldwell, Linda Grant and Elysha Chang. Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth, a leading critic of Trump's threats to cancel research funding at Columbia University and other schools, is this year's winner of the PEN/Benenson Courage Award. PEN is giving its Business Visionary award to Macmillan CEO Jon Yaged.
